Plug in light



Nov. 15, 1966 J. M. AHRoNl 3,286,088

PLUG IN LIGHT Filed Aug. 16, 1965 lOb \I/IO Ils n JOSEPH M. AHRONI INVENTOR.

ATTORN E YS United States Patent 3,286,088 PLUG IN LIGHT Joseph M. Ahroni, 640 S. Spokane St., Seattle, Wash. Filed Aug. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 480,085 3 Claims. (Cl. 24010) This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Serial Number 407,096, filed October 28, 1964.

This invention relates to improvements in miniature incandescent lamps of those types especially designed for the lighting and ornamentation of Christmas trees and for use with festive decorations of various kinds, and more particularly the type in which the bulb plugs into the socket and has its filament leads pressed against electrical contacts mounted in the socket and having power leads thereto.

The invention aims to provide such a plug in bulb and socket assembly which is of unusually simple and economical construction, and makes provision for insuring proper assembly and engagement of the filament leads with the socket contacts.

Further objects and advantages of the invention reside in the details of construction of complemental parts and in their mode of assembly and use, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing the above mentioned and other objects, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an assembled lamp and socket unit embodying the present invention with the socket shell shown in longitudinal vertical section;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken as indicated by line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detail longitudinal sectional view of the lower end portion of the lamp;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the contacts; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of modified contact.

Referring to the drawings it is seen that the incandescent lamp and socket member comprising the assemblage of the present invention are designated in their entireties, respectively, by numerals 10' and 11. The lamp 10 has an elongated tubular bulb 10b formed with an integral glass mounting plug taking the form of a neck 1011 which has a generally rectangular cross section. However, as part of the present invention opposite side faces 10f10 of this neck are given a concave configuration, or in other words, are longitudinally grooved. The resulting recesses function to house and position the free ends of a pair of wire leads 12-12 which extend longitudinally through the bulb neck llln to the interior of the bulb 10b to make connection with the lamp filament 13. The free end portions of the leads have been denoted 12' and are doubled back against the concave faces 10) after protruding from the free end of the bulb neck 10m.

The socket member 11 has a socket 11s formed lengthwise therein which is of generally rectangular cross section from the base of the socket through the major part of the length of the socket member and then has an enlarged mouth 11s of generally circular cross section corresponding to the tubular shape of the globe proper. On two of its opposite sides the socket mouth 11s joins the socket proper 11s at shoulders 11s" and on its other two sides has longitudinal grooves 11g which continue down to the foot of the socket proper. Contained in these grooves 11g are the longitudinal edge portions of a pair of contact strips 14-14 which have their upper ends at the level of the shoulders 11s" and have their lower ends seated at the bottom of the grooves 11g.

It will be noted that the central portion of the contacts 14 are formed with longitudinal ribs 14r which are dished toward the center of the socket and are shaped to fit within the recesses of the concave bulb neck faces 10 to make electrical connection with the doubled back portions 12' of the lamp leads. At their lower ends the contacts 14 are each laterally cut to form side tabs 14t which are bent around in the same direction as the projection of the ribs 141' and are crimped about the upper end of insulated supply leads 15-15 continuing from the power circuit. These supply leads thread into the socket 1 1s through a pair of passages 16-16 in the base of the socket member. Only part of the insulation at the terminal ends of the supply leads 15 is skinned for making electrical connection with the contacts 14 so that when the contact tabs 14t are crimped around the supply leads they will grip the insulation thereon. This arrangement precludes the need for soldering the supply leads to the contacts. As shown in FIG. 6 the longitudinal edges of the contact strips may be serrated to form teeth 14s for resisting withdrawal of the contacts from the grooves 11g. To assemble the socket member and the supply leads with their contacts 14, the leads are first threaded through the passages 16 to have their terminal ends exposed above the mouth of the socket, and then the contacts 14 are crimped over the terminal ends of the leads. Following this the supply leads are pulled downwardly relative to the socket members to introduce the longitudinal side edges of the contact strips into the upper ends of the grooves 11g. Continued pulling of the leads feeds the contacts against the base of the grooves thereby locating the strips within the socket proper 11s with the upper edge of the contacts at the level of the shoulder 11s". The contacts are so positioned that their ribs 14r face one another and in effect become two opposite walls of the socket 11s, the other two opposite walls being fiat and comprising natural faces of the socket member 11.

The lamp 10 can then be manually introduced merely by gripping the tubular portion of the bulb and pushing the neck 10% thereof in through the mouth of the socket with the concave neck faces 109 facing the contacts 14. Continued pushing of the bulb results in the filament leads 13 being pressed between the ribs 14r of the contacts and the concave faces 10) of the bulb neck. Because of the shape of the bulb neck it is impossible to introduce the bulb such that the flat faces of the neck oppose the contacts rather than the concave faces of the bulb neck. The bulb is pressed on into the socket until the rounded shoulder portion 10s at the merger of the lower end of the bulb proper with the bulb neck is seated against the socket shoulders 11s. When in this position the tubular portion 10b of the lamp is held rigidly by the circular mouth portion 11s of the socket as well as the neck 1011 of the bulb being firmly seated between the contacts in the main portion 11s of the socket member.

It is believed that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing description of my now preferred illustrated embodiments. Changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, wherefore it is my intention that no limitations be implied and that the hereto annexed claims be given a scope fully commen surate with the broadest interpretation to which the employed language fairly admits.

What I claim is:

1. A miniature lighting assembly unit comprising, a miniature incandescent lamp, an elongated dielectric socket member having a base at one of its ends and presenting a lamp socket open at its other end, said lamp socket having throughout most of its length an oblong generally rectangular transverse cross-section which is laterally expanded at the corners and also having a laterally enlarged mouth portion merging by lateral stop shoulders with the wider sides of the oblong portion of the socket, a pair of opposed spaced electrical contacts located at the narrower sides of the lamp socket below the level of said stop shoulders, said contacts each slidably interfitting with the socket member along a respective pair of said expanded corners thereof for insertion of the contacts through said open end of the lamp socket during assembly of the unit and for holding the contacts apart throughout their length when the socket is empty of a lamp, a pair of spaced insulated power leads threaded through the base of the socket member and connected to said contacts, said lamp comprising a sealed glass bulb formed with an elongated integral necked glass mounting plug having an oblong generally rectangular transverse cross-section and detachably fitting into said socket snugly between said cont-acts, the ,bulb proper being wider at its base than the width between the Wider faces of said plug to provide bulb shoulder portions opposing said stop shoulders, a filament in said bulb, and a pair of spaced filament leads to said filament emerging from said plug adjacent the to the open end of said enlarged mouth portion of the socket.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,016,727 1/1962 Vanden Boom et al.

339-144 X 3,093,768 6/1963 Ayres 339144 X 3,156,841 11/1964 Ayres 31351 X NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

CHARLES R. RHODES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MINIATURE LIGHTING ASSEMBLY UNIT COMPRISING, A MINIATURE INCANDESCENT LAMP, AN ELONGATED DIELECTRIC SOCKET MEMBER HAVING BASE AT ONE OF ITS ENDS AND PRESENTING A LAMP SOCKET OPEN AT ITS OTHER END, SAID LAMP SOCKET HAVING THROUGHOUT MOST OF ITS LENGTH AN OBLONG GENERALLY RECTANGULAR TRANSVERE CROSS-SECTION WHICH IS LATERALLY EXPANDED AT THE CORNERS AND ALSO HAVING A LATTERALLY ENLARGED MOUTH PORTION MERGINING BY LATERAL STOP SHOULDERS WITH THE WIDER SIDES OF THE OBLONG PORTION OF THE SOCKET, A PAIR OF OPPOSED SPACED ELECTRICAL CONTACTS LOCATED AT THE NARROWER SIDES OF THE LAMP SOCKET BELOW THE LEVEL OF SAID STOP SHOULDERS, SAID CONTACTS EACH SLIDABLY INTERFITTING WITH THE SOCKET MEMBER ALONG A RESPECTIVE PAIR OF SAID EXPANDED CORNERS THEREOF FOR INSERTION PAIR OF SAID THROUGH SAID OPEN END OF LAMP SOCKET DURING ASSEMBLY OF THE UNIT AND FOR HOLDING THE CONTACTS APART THROUGHOUT THEIR LENGHT WHEN THE SOCKET IS EMPTY OF A LAMP, A PAIR OF SPACED INSULATED POWER LEADS THREADED THROUGH THE BASE OF THE SOCKET MEMBER AND CONNECTED TO SAID CONTACTS, AND LAMP COMPRISING A SEALED GLASS BULB FORMED WITH AN ELONGATED INTEGRAL NECKED GLASS MOUNTED PLUG HAVING AN OBLONG GENERALLY RECTANGULAR TRANSVERSE CROSS-SECTION AND DETACHABLY FITTING INTO SAID SOCKET SNUGLY BETWEEN SAID CONTACTS, THE BULB PROPER BEING WIDER AT ITS BASE THAN THE WIDTH BETWEEN THE WIDER FACES OF SAID PLUG TO PROVIDE BULB SHOULDER PORTIONS OPPOSING SAID STOP SHOULDERS, A FILAMENT IN SAID BULB, AND A PAIR OF SPACED FILAMENT LEADS TO SAID FILAMENT EMERGING FROM SAID PLUG ADJACENT THE NARROWER SIDES THEREOF AND DOUBLE BACK THEREOVER SUCH AS TO BE DIRECTLY PRESSED BETWEEN THE PLUG AND SAID CONTACTS. 